


Cuddle Therapy

by Wattsup_yan



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles, Sleepy Kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29240889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wattsup_yan/pseuds/Wattsup_yan
Summary: After both Eddie and Buck fall asleep on Eddie's couch, Eddie finds out that Buck occasionally has nightmares. Eddie convinces buck that some "platonic" cuddling will help reduce the nightmares. The cuddling turns into something more.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 216





	1. Chapter 1

Eddie and Buck have been so inseparable lately that Buck practically moved. Often finding himself sleeping on the living couch after playing video games and watching a movie with Christopher, the young boy is so comfortable with Buck that he sometimes falls asleep next to him before the movie is over; leading to Eddie picking the boy up and bringing him to his room. At this time Buck is often too tired himself to drive home which is what leads to him ending up on the Diaz couch yet again. At this point, he doesn’t mind the mild backache that comes with staying over; his only problem being his occasional nightmares.

This time when Buck fell asleep on the couch, he did not fall asleep alone. Christopher just so happens to stay awake throughout the whole movie and went to bed himself, while the two grown men did not. Buck and Eddie were fast asleep on the couch when Eddie woke up to what sounded to be crying. Immediately his dad instincts kick in and he assumes it’s Christopher and he almost heads over to his son's room.  
That is until he wipes the sleep out of his eyes and notices Buck huddled in the corner of the couch whimpering and tears streaming down his face. All Eddie can think at this moment is why? Why is Buck having a bad dream here? He’s supposed to feel safe here, he’s supposed to feel safe with me. Eddie remembers a conversation he had with Chimney earlier that month about how you shouldn’t wake someone having a nightmare unless they are endangering themselves or others because they can panic and even have a heart attack, he said it was better to try to comfort that person and to get them out of the nightmare instead. Eddie quietly shifts over to the other man, slowly reaching over as he begins running his fingers through his hair. He remembers Maddie telling him that was something she would do to Buck whenever he was sick, Eddie just hopes it helps to calm him down. Eventually, Bucks’s whimpering stops, and he visibly relaxes to the point that he’s now leaning into Eddie’s arm, seeking out the comfort of his hand.  
‘So cute’ Eddie thinks, as he himself begins to relax after hearing Buck now steady breathing. It doesn’t take long for Eddie to fall, victim to the Sand Man’s spell, falling asleep minutes later.

When Buck awoke in the morning he lets out a small sigh of relief, he always hates having nightmares at Eddie’s house. At least this one was relatively short, he thinks. That feeling of calm quickly dissipates and turns into panic when he realizes the position he’s in. He’s snuggled up under the couch blanket using Eddie’s chest as a pillow, which was both soft and firm like a good memory foam pillow.  
‘No Evan.’ He thinks to himself. ‘You are not thinking about how nice Eddie’s pecs feel like a pillow, he’s your best friend, and thinking about his pillow pecs is weird.’  
Right as he finishes that thought Eddie stirs awake, yawning and attempting to stretch before remembering Buck was right next to him. He then moves over a bit to get a proper stretch.

“Morning Buck, sleep well?” Eddie asks before letting out another yawn. 

“Um, Goodmorning?” Buck says but it comes out more like a question. “ I uh-I slept pretty well I guess. Why didn’t you go to bed? I’m sure you didn’t want to sleep on the couch.” He says feeling awkward about being the reason his best friend is sleeping on the couch with him.

“I guess you're right, I never realized how uncomfortable this couch is to sleep on. Next time you stay over you should come to bed with me, probably better for your back.” At this point, Eddie is already off the couch and heading to the couch.

“Eddie you don’t have to do that, I just had a bad dream is all. The couch is perfectly fine.” This statement is only half true, sure the couch isn't the most comfortable but he doesn't want to inconvenience Eddie.

“Hey, man it’s fine. I want you to feel safe when you stay here, and if you feel safer having somebody next to you when you sleep, then my doors open. Though if you're uncomfortable with that right now, that's also fine just letting you know that I'm open to some platonic cuddling.” Eddie says as he whisks up some eggs in a bowl.

“I’ll think about it ok. I gotta shower we got a shift in like-,” He pauses to read the clock on the wall. “-Three hours. How did we wake up on time? We never set an alarm.”

“I don’t know.” Eddie shrugs, now cooking the eggs. “Guess we’re just used to waking up at this time, you know the inner clock or something like that. Just really think about it ok. I think it can be really helpful, for the both of us.” He really emphasizes the last part.

‘Does Eddie also need this?’ Buck thinks as he gets into the shower. He begins to think about how lonely Eddie must be as well. Despite having such a loving family, Buck knows Eddie isn't seeing anyone romantically, instead he’s focusing on work and on his son. Maybe a bit of platonic cuddling is the thing they both need to get through this stay of their lives, something to help push them through it. Buck finishes up his shower and gets dressed before heading back into the kitchen. Now Chris is awake and happily eating breakfast talking to his father who already made a plate for Buck and had already eaten his own.

“Ok,” Buck says as he sits down to eat. “ Let's do it.”

“Are you sure, we don’t have to if you're uncomfortable with the idea?” Eddies say, now getting himself ready for a shower.

“I’m fine Eddie. I agree that it can be beneficial for both of us.” 

“What can be beneficial?” Chris asks.

“Nothing that concerns you, Mijo. When you're done eating I need you to get ready for school, ok. Carla’s going to pick you up before Buck and I head off for work.” Eddie asserts, now making his way to the bathroom.

“Ok, Dad.” Chris finishes eating and puts his plate into the sink before disappearing into his own room to get ready. 

Now alone all Buck can think is. ‘This should be interesting.’ As he continues his own breakfast.


	2. Chapter 2 (Anxiety causing whispers)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buck tries his best to get used to his new situation with Eddie. Let's just say he struggles

Buck hated the whispers. The whispers of the crew whenever he showed up in with Eddie to work or was seen wearing what was obviously Eddie's shirt due to it being a bit too small espousing a bit of the taller man midriff, or when the got a little too close at work, or when they went home together. There were always whispers, whispers about them dating, or them just sleeping together or some other thing about them that just wasn't true. Was it so hard to believe that two men were just best friends and nothing more? Sure Buck adored Eddie's company and he was sure that Eddie felt the same, but that didn't mean that they were fucking. 

'Evan, do not think about fucking Eddie. It's already awkward thinking about cuddling with him tonight, last thing you is bonner.' Buck thinks as he checks over his gear.

"So, Buckaroo," Hen says coming up behind back gives the man a slight scare, though he'd never admit that. "I saw you came in with Eddie, again. Anything you wanna tell me." She teases.

Hen does this every time, asks if Buck and Eddie have become an item, and every time the answer is no. Though he prefers the direct approach rather than having to hear everyone else's whispers, at least Hen said it straight to his face; even if she was "joking". 

"No, Hen. I don't have anything to tell you." Buck says, slamming his locker door.

"Buckaroo, you know I'm just messing with you. Are you mad that I keep insinuating that you like men?" She asks, clearly concerned that she struck a nerve.

"What? No Hen that's not why. It's just annoying knowing that everyone is whispering about something that isn't there, something that doesn't exist. You know." Buck's voice breaks a little when he says this. 'Why does he feel this way, why does it hurt so bad knowing there's nothing there.'  
Just as he's about to continue his inner turmoil, the fire bell rings saving him from himself. 

After a long tiring shift, Buck and Eddie shower at the station before heading home, which leads to more whispers. Buck tries his best to shake the horrible feeling but he can’t help but be affected.

“I hear them, do you know?” I Eddie says so quietly that Buck almost doesn't hear him.

“What?” Buck asked, confused. didn't need Eddie hearing things while driving.

“You know the whispers, gossip at the station. Everyone thing we’re dating or fucking when in reality we’re just great friends. I can tell their comments bother you, but I just think that they're jealous they never became close friends with someone like we have.”

Buck thinks about this for a moment, were these people's friendships so unfulfilling that the sight of Buck and Eddie made them assume the two were dating. He had never thought about it that way. Before long they pull into the driveway as the Diaz home. Buck very eager to get some rest before remembering what had been discussed this morning.

“Buck, you know you can back out of this if you want. This is about making you feel comfortable and if you're uncomfortable the-”

“No.” He quickly cuts Eddie off. He wants to do this. He feels awkward as hell but he wants to do this. “Let's just see how tonight goes.”  
Eddie nods, opening the doors to the house.

“Chris had a sleepover planned this weekend so he won't be home till Sunday night. That gives us all of tonight and tomorrow afternoon to figure if this is something that is going to work for us. You wanna get takeout, cause I’m kinda feeling Chinese?” How could Eddie be so nonchalant about this, so calm and unbothered? Buck on the other hand is basically bouncing off the walls with his nerves. 

“Yeah, that um-that sounds like a good plan. Also Chinese is fine, just get me what I usually get ok. I uh-I gotta go take a dump.” Buck wheezes out as he scurries to the bathroom, he hovers over the toilet feeling like he’s going to throw up.

After hearing Bucks heaving in the bathroom Eddie rushes in and immediately realizes that Bucks indeed is having an anxiety attack.

“Hey. Buck, Buddie you're ok. You're ok.” Eddie assures him in a soothing voice. This isn't the first time that Eddie had to deal with one of Buck's anxiety attacks, and it most definitely wasn't going to be the last time. They had gone over how to deal with this many times, something that's required to become a firefighter. However, Buck preferred his anxiety attacks to be handled a little differently. Buck needed words of affirmation and to most importantly be held firmly against somebody else, preferably against their chest while being gently rocked. This is exactly what Eddie does, holding the taller man until he finally calms down and gives the signal to release him.

“I-I,” Buck stutters out struggling to form words after just catching his breath again. “I'm sorry.” He practically whimpers.

“No, Buck don’t be sorry. It's not your fault ok. It's not your fault.” Eddie assures Buck, rubbing gentle circles on his head trying to release some pressure. “ You wanna tell me what's got you so stressed?” Eddie asks in a hushed whisper tone.

Buck nods. “What if I mess things up?”

“Mess what up?” 

“Our friendship, what if I mess up our friendship by doing this.” Buck sighs struggling to meet Eddie's eyes.

“First off all Buck I’m the one that suggested the whole cuddling then, so if anyone would be at fault here it would be me. But no one is going to be at fault because there's nothing to worry about. If things work, great. If not we never have to talk about it again and can move on. Ok?” Eddie slowly helped Buck get off the bathroom floor.  
Buck nods a little, getting up following Eddie's lead.

“I’m sure you're no longer hungry after all that, go get a drink of water then and meet me in my room. I want to make sure I set things up right for you.”

“Thank you, Eddie,” Buck says shuffling himself to the kitchen.

“You know its no problem Buck”


	3. Chapter 3 (Yes, No, or Maybe So)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buck and Eddie have their first cuddle session, how does it go? Does Buck come to a realization, who knows?  
> (I do hehe. Also, I rhymed, yay!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if there any ideas you want to be implemented and if I like them I will try to incorporate them into the story.  
> Lots of love ❤

After calming down some more and drinking his water, Buck made his way into Eddie's bedroom. The shorter man staring out the window patiently waiting in his bed with the side table lamp on. He didn’t notice Buck until he heard the floorboards creak and went to see what caused the noise.  
“Oh, Buck. You're ready, come sit down.” Eddie said a bit ecstatically, patting the opposite side of his Queen bed. Buck shuffles over to bed awkwardly sitting down, hardly being able to look at Eddie. “Buck, we are going to do an exercise. It’s called ‘Yes, No, or Maybe’.” Eddie says. “It’s all about figuring out what we are most comfortable with right now and establishing consent. Yes, means yes, No means no, and Maybe means we come back to it later. Do you get it?”

Buck slowly nodded as he got the premise through his head.

“I’m going to need a verbal yes from you, Buck.” Eddie almost teases.

“Yes, Eddie. I get it.” Buck says though he’s happy they’re doing this. Being able to establish consent for certain things is healthy and he’s glad Eddie brought it up.

“Alright then. I’m going to start then it’s your turn, but if you don’t have a question then I just go again and same for you. We can both take our consent back at any time. Any questions, Buck?”  
The blonde thinks for a moment before replying. “ No.” He says simply but firmly.

“Ok. Let's start off simple. Buck, Can I hold your hand?” Eddie asks, but he doesn't reach out his hand.

“Yes,” Buck replies. Reaching out his own hand and Eddie grasping it. “Can we lay down?”

“Yes. Buck we can.” Eddie says as both men slowly lay down. “ Can we face one another?”

“Yes,” Buck says as they shift in the bed. Their faces now are only about a foot apart. “You can go again.”

“Ok... Can I move in closer?” He asks with a bit of hesitation.

“Um-,” Buck thinks for a moment before replying. “No. Can I let go of your hand?”

“I respect your no, Buck. And yes you can let go of my hand. Can I caress your cheek?” Eddies ask.

“Maybe,” Buck says. “ I changed my mind about coming closer, can I rest my face on your shoulder?”

“Yes, you can,” Eddie replies as Buck shifts himself into Eddie's arms, letting out a relaxed sigh. “Can I rub my fingers through your hair? I know that helps you calm down, we can finish here if you're ready and we don’t have to do this every time.”

“Yes, you can rub your fingers through my hair; and this seems like a good place to stop.” Buck lets out a gentle sigh as Eddie pulls a blanket over them and turns off the lamp. 

‘This is nice’ he thinks as Eddie lightly rubs his fingers through Buck's hair. He’s never been cuddled like this before, where he’s the one being held and comforted. With women, they always want to be the little spoon, but with Eddie, he’s allowed to be soft and vulnerable. Buck doesn’t realize just how tired he is until he catches himself nodding off. ‘Eddies arms are so warm, so comfortable.’ Buck concluded as he caught himself burying himself into Eddie's forearm, relaxing even more when he heard Eddie snore softly. It doesn’t take long for Buck himself to drift off as well.

************************

“Morning, Buck.” Eddie practically whispers waking the taller man, rubbing Bucks cheek with his thumb. “Shit,” Eddie says as he pulls his hand away from Bucks’s cheek like it's on fire. “ You never said yes to that, I’m sorry.”  
Buck grabs Eddie's hand and places his cheek into it. “ Eddie it’s alright.” He says rubbing into Eddie's hand as he yawns. “ I like it. It’s nice.” 

“Ok then. I take it you slept well?” Eddie asked as he continued to rub Bucks' cheeks. ‘ So cute’ He thinks.

“I did sleep well, thanks to you.” Buck looks up at Eddie who’s looking at Buck like he’s the cutest kitten in the world.

“ Buck, can I kiss your forehead?”

“ Yes,” Buck says before he can stop himself, and Eddie places a soft kiss atop the blonde's head. Buck can’t help his dumb smile at the sensation. ‘Why do I feel so fuzzy inside, like everything is perfect here and now and like nothing can go wrong’. He thinks as he nuzzles into Eddie's chest some more. “ Can we stay like this for a little longer?” Buck sighs. 

“Of course, Buck. For as long as you need.” He replies and kisses Buck on the forehead once again before holding him tighter.

After falling asleep for another hour the two wake up around 12 p.m and partake in breakfast, Buck making his famous pancakes and them settling on the couch to watch some t.v. Right as they’re getting into a new show Eddies gets a text and checks his phone.

“Hey Buck, Christopher wants to go home early. The kid’s parents said he really misses me, sorry to cut this short.”

“Eddie it’s ok, today was really great. He’s your son, I’m sure he needs you way more than me.” Buck half-jokes rubbing the back of his head. “Besides Maddies off today, so maybe I’ll go bother her and my future brother-in-law.”

“Are you sure? god, I feel so bad.” Eddie says, really wanting to make sure Bucks alright with it he made a promise.

“Eddie, I swear that it’s ok. Now go get your son. I’ll clean up here and then head out.” Buck picks up the dishes and heads over to the sink as he says this.

“Thanks for understanding man, you're the best,” Eddie says from his room getting ready to go.

*********************

Buck does end up going to Maddie’s apartment, half surprised that Chimney wasn’t there. He was apparently running some errands and would be gone for a few hours.

“So you’re telling me that this man invited you to his house, offered you his bed, establish multiple rounds of consent, cuddled you all night, and gave you forehead kisses, but it was completely platonic,” Maddie asked completely dumbfounded by her little brother’s obliviousness. “Not to mention he hesitated to pick up his son just to snuggle with you some more. Are you sure you’re not dating?”

“Jeez, why does everyone say that? At work, everyone at the station and on calls thinks we’re a couple. The number of times girls have stopped flirting me with cause Eddie came up to me is ridiculous. When we go out with Christopher, I always hear the ‘such a cute family’ comment.”

“Evan, do those comments really bother you?” Maddie asks, grasping her brother’s shoulder concerned.

“I mean, yeah it does. Cause it’s not true. I’m not dating Eddie, and Christopher’s not my son, we're not a family.” Buck says clearly hurt.

“Does it bother you because you want it to be true?” She asks.  
“I- I never thought about it that way. Holy shit do I have a crush on Eddie?” Bucks says with a panic. Sudden memories flood back to all the times his body burned when it came to Eddie’s touch or when he felt his cheeks flush when Eddie complimented him, or how loved he feels when he spends time with Eddie and Christopher. Or even when he first met Eddie and couldn’t stop thinking about how hot he looked in that firefighter calendar.

“Evan, are you alright?” Maddie asked, taking Buck out of his derailing train of thought.

“I think I do want it to be true Madds, shit I like Eddie. Like a lot. I don’t know what to do.” Buck panics.

“Ok, well you could tell hi-”. Maddie starts but Buck cuts her off.

“Nope. No way. I already felt like I was running things when we cuddled. I can not tell him that I like him. That would screw things up for sure. I gotta go.” Buck says hurry towards the door. 

“Evan wai-'' Maddie tries, but it’s too late. Her brother has already left slamming the door behind him. Just then Chimney came in with some groceries.

“Was that Buck?” He asks. “Cause if it was you need to talk to him about ignoring me just because he doesn’t want to help me bring in groceries.” 

“It was and that has nothing to do with you. He’s just dealing with a lot right now.” Maddie says with a sigh. ”Let me help you.”

“Can you talk about it or is it too personal?” Chimney asked, just wanting to help his girlfriend.

“Unfortunately it is too personal, thank you for being concerned though. I’m sure everything will be fine.” Maddie says kissing her boyfriend on the cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if there any ideas you want to be implemented and if I like them I will try to incorporate them into the story.  
> Lots of love ❤


End file.
